Barrel or crate



G. A. LE FEVRE AND H. HUTCHINSON.

BARREL 0R CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23 1920.

Patented Sept. 20, .1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

G. A. LE FEVRE AND: HJHUTCHINSON.

BARREL 0R CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23, 1920.

Patented Sept. 20, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE a LE EEvRE, OE RICHMOND HILL, NEW YORK, AND HUBERT. HUTCHINSON,

OE NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS T0 PAXFLAT BARREL & CRATE CORPO- RATION, on NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BARREL 0R CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 20, 1921 Application filed March 23, 1920. Serial No. 868,069.

()ur invention is intended to produce a very cheap, unusually strong and convenient package of this character, and especially one in which if desired the slats or staves of the structure can be placed in close connection so that they will touch at the edges if desired whenthe container is setup. Our invention is also intended to provide a band or binder on the inner sides of the staves or .slats, which will engage hoops extending is also intended to provide an inside band or binder which will have a sliding connection with the exterior hoop, so that the hoop may be tightened and moved transversely of the slats and with relation to the binder, and thus obviate any straining or displacing of the slats or staves, while it will serve the purpose of securing them firmly-to their heads. All of which will be more clearly understood from the description which follows.

Reference is to be had toflthe accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a barrel embodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a broken plan of the structure when laid out flat showing the inner side thereof.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the exterior. of the structure.

Fig. 4 is a detail showing how the inner band or hinder can be secured at the end.

Fig. 5 is a detail of the means for fastening the ends of the outer hoops together.

Fig. 6 is a view of the fastening when completed, and

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig.

The structure is made up of parallel slats or staves 10 which can if desired be provided with the ordinary croze grooves 11 near the ends to receive the heads. This is the usual structure of such containers. Extending transversely of the slats or staves and on the outer sides thereof, are hoops 12 which are preferably of fiat metal, and any desired number of these hoops can be used.

These hoops are adapted to slide lengthwise of themselves, and their ends can be fastened together in any convenient way, but preferably by the fastening shown in Figs. 5 to 7. As here illustrated, one end of a hoop is passed through a loop 1.3 and dou-' bled back upon itself as shown at 12 This overlies an H-shaped clip 14:, the arms 15 of which extend as shown in Fig. 5 at right angles to the line of the hoop 12. After the end 12 of one hoop has been bent back as shown in Fig. 5, the adjacent arms 15 of the clip are doubled over upon it, thus fastening the hoop end and clip together. After this the extreme end of the hoop is doubled back upon the bent arms 15, as

shown at 12 in Figs'G'and 7. This being done, the opposite end of the hoop is drawn taut through the loop 13 and then fastened precisely as above described. This makes a very strong fa steningand one which can be easily manipulated either to secure the hoop or to release the ends. I

' To fasten the slats or staves in parallel relation and permit the adjustment of the hoops 12 lengthwise of themselves, we preferably employ'an inner band 16 which is preferably in the form of a flexible wire, and this is bent over the outer side of the hoop 12 so as to extend inward between the slats, and is then continued diagonally across the slat as shown in Fig, 2, thence bent outward and around the outer side of the hoop, then inward between the slats and across the next hoop, and so on, forming a series of keepers a which extend across the outer part of the hoop at a point opposite the junction of the slats, and members or staves endwise of themselves.

Fig. 4 we have shown an end portion-c doubled back upon itself across a slat 10, but this is unimportant.

When a structure of this sort is laid fiat the slats can be pushed. up close together, and when rolled up around. their heads to the form shown in Fig, 1, the inner edges of adjacent slats will meet, forming a substantially tight and strong structure, and

the structure is flexible enough to permit this rolling arrangement. The ends'of the outer hoops can then be fastened as inclicated, and in this way a very strong, convenient, and simple container is made.

Obviously if the package is not cylindrical, a rectangular head 17 can be used and the body portion of the structure bent around it, or the head can be given any other preferred shape. In Fig. 8 We have shown a packing case made in this way, and in order that the package may not open too much when the lid is raised, the slats near the top and bottom edges of the head can be nailed as shown at 18, if desired, or otherwise fastened. We have shown this form of container simply to illustrate the fact that the body portion of the structure can be shaped around any suitable head, but of course if the head is rectangular the slats must be of such width as to bring the corners of the head opposite the meeting points of two adjacent slats.

We claim 1. A structure of the kind described having a body portion formed of parallel slats, flexible hoops extending across the outer parts of the slats, means for fastening the hoop ends together, inner bands or binders extending across the inner parts of the slats opposite the hoops, and a connection between the inner bands and the outer hoops which permits thehoops to slide'endwise of themselves.

2. A structureofthe kind describedhavinner bands or binders extend between the several slats and around the outer parts of the hoops.

4. In a structure of the kind described, the combination with the parallel slate, of an external hoop crossing the several slats, and an inner flexible band or hinder extending transversely across the inner parts 7 of the slats and between the slats and around the outer parts of the hoop thereby forming a connection with the hoop which permits the latter to slide longitudinally.

5. A structure of the kind described comprising a series of parallelslats adapted to be brought into close connection edge to edge, hoops extending transversely across the outer parts of the slats, means for fastening the hoop ends together, and binding wires extending across the inner parts of the slats opposite the outer hoops, eachwire extending across each slatand being formed intoaseries of loops passing between adjacent slats and over the, outer hoop.

6. A structure of the kind described comprising parallel slats, flexible hoops extending transversely across the slats, means.v for fastening the hoops to the slats 11151. man

nor to permit the hoops to move longitudinally of themselves, andmeans for fastening the hoop ends together- 7. A structure of the kind described comprising essentially straight parallel slats, eX-.

GEORGE A. LE FEVRE. HUBERT HUTCHIN-SON. Witnesses: r

WARREN B. HU'roHINsoN,

M. G. ODoNNEnL. 

